(201) Magazine Blogs

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

Captain for captain, Callahan for St. Louis

The Rangers and Ryan Callahan came closer to agreeing to a contract extension. But the final gulf was never bridged and, instead, the Rangers sent Callahan to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a captain-for-captain trade that returns veteran Martin St. Louis to New York.

In addition to Callahan, the Rangers also sent their 2015 first-round pick and a conditional second-round pick in this June’s draft to the Lightning. However, if the Rangers make the Eastern Conference final, that second-round pick becomes a first-round selection. Additionally, if Callahan re-signs with the Lightning, the Rangers receive the Lightning’s second-round pick in 2015 and the Lightning get the Rangers’ seventh-round pick that year.

Callahan participated in the Rangers’ morning skate at Madison Square Garden prior to tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs before the trade was announced. He was not available to speak to the media in the Rangers’ dressing room following the morning skate.

Meanwhile, the Rangers are working to get St. Louis to New York in time for tonight’s game, though St. Louis’ travel plans have not been finalized. If St. Louis can make it to New York in time for the game, he’ll apparently skate on a line centered by ex-Lightning teammate Brad Richards and left wing Carl Hagelin.

St. Louis, who turns 39 on June 18 and keeps an offseason house in Greenwich, Conn., hence his stance that he would waive his no-movement clause only to come to the Rangers, is a six-time All-Star and won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s MVP in 2003-04, the season the Lightning, coached by ex-Rangers coach John Tortorella, won the franchise’s lone Stanley Cup. He has also won the Lady Byng Trophy as the league’s most gentlemanly player three times.

St. Louis, with 29 goals and 32 assists, becomes the Rangers’ leading scorer with 61 points. His ex-Lightning teammate, Brad Richards, is next with 16 goals and 28 assists for 44 points. Overall, St. Louis has 369 goals and 604 assists in 1,041 NHL games

Callahan was in his third season as the Rangers captain and his eighth with the Rangers after being selected in the fourth round of the 2004 draft. He has 11 goals and 14 assists this season in 45 games as he’s missed time three separate times due to shoulder, knee and hand injuries. In 450 NHL games, Callahan has 132 goals and 122 assists.

He initially was believed to be seeking a seven-year deal worth closer to $7 million annually but, by Tuesday, the sides had come to an agreement on a six-year term but were still about $500,000 apart on an annual salary, with the Rangers believed to be offering $6 million annually. The sides might have closed the gap somewhat today, but not enough for the Rangers to retain Callahan or risk losing him as an unrestricted free agent.

St. Louis is in the third season of a four-year, $22.5 million deal that counts $5.625 million annually against the salary cap.
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Posted by Andrew Gross on 03/05 at 06:38 PM

Terrible trade, the potential for 2 #1’s is awful

Posted by Alex Besos on 03/05 at 07:04 PM

I have to agree. My kneejerk is that we gave up too many future assets for a 38-year old. Albeit a star 38-year old.

Still time for Glen to make his yearly weirdo deadline trade for a goon that will never play. Or does the Carcillo move count as that already?

Posted by DaveB on 03/05 at 07:08 PM

As a team with 0 prospect depth, trading away all these draft picks every draft makes 0 sense. This is not a championship caliber team, this is a middle of the pack, claw your way into the playoffs team. Sather should have had the upper hand, as St. Louis cried his way out of TB. Rangers don’t need another aging veteran who WILL NOT live up to expectations in NY.

Posted by goonfreak on 03/05 at 07:08 PM

I hate this trade.

Slats gotta go.

Posted by DickHertz on 03/05 at 07:13 PM

so now i have to route against the rangers in the playoffs so we don’t end up sending 2 #1 picks to tampa. thanks sather.

I’m not in favor of this trade. I just don’t like the age of St. Louis @ 38 with two more years to go. However, he is costing us a bit less that Cally was asking and to compare the two from a point production standpoint…well there is no comparison.

St. Louis will provide on-ice leadership although not the same kind as Cally. The draft picks could hurt, especially the 2015 draft.

I would have been in favor of a trade for a younger player, but I guess that never developed.

As for leadership, MSL is a captain, Richards was a captain and newcomer Klein has strong lockeroom presence.

I will agree that St. Louis will allow us to buyout Richards, so that is another positive.

Hate to see Cally go, but I was far more concerned with his recent injury situations and how they would effect his play. If Cally stops being Cally or continues to miss games for extended periods of time, then this trade will be a good one because we didn’t get a $6MM contract for something less then a $6MM man!

In the short term this is a good deal, but time will tell over the long haul.

Posted by rangerbill94 on 03/05 at 07:18 PM

The first rounder is overpayment considering Marty no trade clause created less leverage as he’d only go to rangers. Though him signed for extra yr is nice

Our pick that year with our defense Nash and Marty and hank likely will be #20 or worse. So it’s not like it will be a top 5 or 10 pick

Never thought cally of all people would force sathers hand like this. Always bled rangers blue an face of the team. Wow. Guess it just proves how much this is business and less loyalty. Good luck to him I guess. Sour he let his agent pump his price tag so high in his mind. Really curious what he ends up signing for

Marty now gives us that second scoring threat initially planned for Nash and gabby so teams have to plan defense around more than one line

Add to that our brassard zucc pouliot with great secondary tertiary scoring our balance looks good

Let’s see if chemistry remains intact. Team was finally gelling

I still think we should try to get Chris Stewart from buffalo for some sort of package.

Posted by Craig on 03/05 at 07:23 PM

I don’t think the 2015 pick is low, it may be higher than you think. I guess the solace is that Sather would probably pick the Jessiman of the first round, while everyone else picks the Getzlafs, Browns, Keslers, and Perrys, because the GM is a moron, a senile imbecile.

Fantastic signing, especially after getting bullied by the Bruins and Flyers. Just what they need is to get smaller.

Posted by Tpk on 03/05 at 08:00 PM

Wasn’t implying that St Louis is soft, RR. But our hits leader and grittiest player, who sets the tone for this team, just left and we got a scorer back. THAT’s what I meant.

Per Darren Dreger:
“Ryan Callahan’s original ask of 8 years at $7.5 late last summer should be marked as the starting point for his New York departure”

Posted by DaveB on 03/05 at 08:06 PM

No doubt St. Louis is an offensive presence. How good does our PP become now? How much more scoring does he add at 5-5? I will miss Cally, but this had to be done. The picks are a bit disturbing and one can only hope Cally resigns with TB ... but I think at this stage of his career, St. Louis is arguably the best or second best player out there who was available for trade—- still, one 1st round pick should have been enough.

Re: his age, St. Louis is the consummate professional, his strength and conditioning regimen is virtually considered second to none. If there’s a guy out there who can play to the age of 42-43 and still produce 60-70+ points it’s probably him (kind of like a Jagr). If he resigns and we get 4 years out of him, this could end up looking like a pretty good deal.

Posted by CJ on 03/05 at 08:08 PM

Per Darren Dreger:
“Ryan Callahan’s original ask of 8 years at $7.5 late last summer should be marked as the starting point for his New York departure”

Posted by DaveB on 03/05 at 02:06 PM

Yikes .... ok, I understand starting high but that request is just HIGH.

Posted by CJ on 03/05 at 08:10 PM

Posted by Jay on 03/05 at 01:18 PM

cally at 6 yrs 6 mm per was a non starter and very foolish.

having said that i’m not happy with giving up a 1st rd pick on top of everything.

Posted by JJ on 03/05 at 08:30 PM

Great deal for the short term. Gives the team a 2 year window to go for it. St. Louis might be 38 but HE LED THE LEAGUE IN SCORING LAST YEAR!!!!. Last I checked their biggest problem is still putting the puck in the net. Now if you are Boston, you play Chara against Nash or St. Louis? Gives the team 2 LEGIT 40 goal scorers playing on separate lines. You always take the best player in a deal like this and you cant count on draft picks panning out. The ONLY drawback is that it might mean he keeps Richards wanting to team him with St. Louis instead of buying him out.

Posted by JM on 03/05 at 08:41 PM

Let me say Cally did this to himself..

With that said Sather gave up no prospects. he did give up draft picks but as JJ would say he does not draft well. lol

Posted by benniesays on 03/05 at 08:44 PM

Posted by benniesays on 03/05 at 02:44 PM

the record and facts say he doesn’t draft well. i’m just the messenger

Posted by JJ on 03/05 at 08:59 PM

They don’t draft that badly (anymore), but given where the picks would likely fall we should be able to live with this.

Posted by CJ on 03/05 at 09:33 PM

I see the blueprint, the only way to beat big teams (Bruins, Flyers) is with speed & skill so I understand. I have extreme reservations though, MSL is old, our team is very small, way too many draft picks given up.

Anyone realize Nash has 29 points this season while top players are putting up 60-80 range.

Posted by Elliot on 03/05 at 09:59 PM

Who is MSL going to pass to on the PP? Nash-the one guy in the NHL that doesn’t have a slapshot we pay top dollar for. Brassard has the biggest shot on this team, everyone else cant shoot hard with accuracy.

Posted by Elliot on 03/05 at 10:06 PM

Posted by CJ on 03/05 at 03:33 PM

we don’t now that. recent yrs including mcilrath and del zotto were not successes

rest filled with hype and hope

FIRE SATHER

Posted by JJ on 03/05 at 10:39 PM

MSL is hopefully going to score on the power play!

I’ve been saying all along that this team is not as far off from being a contending team as some folks think. They went deep two years ago. Lets see how far they go this year and we will see what we have.

About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.